REAL-TIME PHOTOGRAPHIC BASED TERRAIN IMAGE GENERATOR WITH CAPABILITIES FOR 3-D OBJECTS

THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WITH THE CURRENT GENERATION OF REAL-TIME IMAGE GENERATORS IN THEIR USE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC TEXTURE AND THEIR LACK OF TERRAIN DETAIL. THE BEST CURRENTLY AVAILABLE REAL-TIME IMAGE GENERATORS MODEL TERRAIN WITH PHOTOGRAPHS MAPPED ONTO POLYGONS. THIS APPROACH PRODUCES IMAGES OF TERRAIN THAT LOOK UNNATURALLY SMOOTH AND FLAT AT LOW ELEVATIONS, AND BLOCKY AT HIGH ELEVATIONS. AN IMAGE GENERATOR ARCHITECTURE WILL BE PROPOSED THAT OVERLAYS PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES ONTO DETAILED TERRAIN ELEVATION DATA. IN ADDITION TO THE IMPROVED REALISM, THE PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE IS MODULAR AND EXPANDABLE AND WILL SUPPORT THE RAPID CREATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC DATABASES.